Topographic North America: North America is a very diverse region. From the Rocky Mountains that extend through Canada and The United States, which later branches off into the Sierra Madre which passes through Mexico, making up the Continental Divide, to the Appalachian mountains in the United States and then the plains that fill up the innermost regions of the United States and most of Canada, to normal “country” land, with four distinct seasons in a year, which take the rest of the areas. There are four main deserts, all in the US’s own west coast. These are the Great Basin, the Mojave, the Sonoran, and the Chihuahuan deserts.
North America is a very diverse region. From the Rocky Mountains that extend through Canada and The United States, which later branches off into the Sierra Madre which passes through Mexico, making up the Continental Divide, to the Appalachian mountains in the United States and then the plains that fill up the innermost regions of the United States and most of Canada, to normal “country” land, with four distinct seasons in a year, which take the rest of the areas. There are four main deserts, all in the US’s own west coast. These are the Great Basin, the Mojave, the Sonoran, and the Chihuahuan deserts.(http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/mojadena.htm)
Picture at left: http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/mojadena.htm
Weather Patterns in North America: North America is typically a warm place, compared to most other continents. On the Western side, it is usually warm all year round; whilst the eastern side has four seasons; spring, summer, fall and winter. (http://www.coaps.fsu.edu/lib/booklet/) El Nino: In February or March the waters off Peru start to get warmer. Despite the fact that Peru is not in North America it still affects it.
As said on: http://www.ucar.edu/communications/factsheets/elnino/, "But every few years, this warming started early (in December), was far stronger, and lasted as long as a year or two. Torrential rains fell on the arid land; as one early observer put it, "the desert becomes a garden." Warm waters flowing south brought water snakes, bananas, and coconuts from equatorial rain forests. However, the same current shut off the deeper, cooler waters that are crucial to sustaining the region's marine life. This is El Niño, "the Christ child," so named because of its frequent late December appearance. Once thought to affect only a narrow strip of water off Peru, it is now recognized as a large-scale oceanic warming that affects most of the tropical Pacific. The meteorological effects related to El Niño and its counterpart, La Niña (a cooling of the eastern tropical Pacific); extend throughout the Pacific Rim to eastern Africa and beyond."
Climates of North America:
North America has many climates. They are desert, highland, semiarid, tropical, tropical wet and dry, subtropical dry summer, humid subtropical, humid oceanic, humid continental, subarctic, tundra, and icecap. (http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?content_spotlight/climates/north_american_climate)
· A desert climate can get up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and out of the climates the desert is the hottest one. (http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webunits/biomes/dclimate.html).
· Highland climates are in mountainous areas and are usually cold (with the cold varying) (http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/climate.htm).
· Semiarid climates are climates that 'border desert climates' and have 'low precipitation amounts' according to http://www.syl.com/travel/semiaridclimatescharacteriseregionswithlittleprecipitation.html.
· Tropical wet and dry weather, or “savannas”, get little rain in parts of the year, while other parts get a lot of rainfall. In tropical climates there are a lot of vegetation and rain, and the temperature usually doesn’t get higher than 35 degrees Celsius. http://www.uwsp.edu/gEo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/tropical_wetdry_1.html)
· Humid subtropical climates have hot summers and cold winters, with about 100 inches of rain a year. (http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/humid_subtropical.html)
· The humid oceanic climate has a temperature that doesn't change much throughout the year; the only fluctuation in temperature is usually from 10C to 13C. (http://www.meteorologyclimate.com/Oceanic-climate.htm).
· The humid continental climate is similar has summers that are very hot and the winters are very cold. (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/276210/humid-continental-climate)
· The subarctic climate has short cool summers, and long, cold winters. In the summer the temperature can get higher, about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. (http://www.uwsp.edu/gEo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/subarctic.html)
· The tundra is an extreme cold climate condition, as the average temperature is only 30 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, although in the summer it can get as hot as 90 degrees Fahrenheit. (http://ths.sps.lane.edu/biomes/tundra4/tundra4c.html)
· The icecap climate is the coldest climate on Earth, and the sun is only visible for half of the year. (http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/icecap.html)
Topographic North America:
North America is a very diverse region. From the Rocky Mountains that extend through Canada and The United States, which later branches off into the Sierra Madre which passes through Mexico, making up the Continental Divide, to the Appalachian mountains in the United States and then the plains that fill up the innermost regions of the United States and most of Canada, to normal “country” land, with four distinct seasons in a year, which take the rest of the areas. There are four main deserts, all in the US’s own west coast. These are the Great Basin, the Mojave, the Sonoran, and the Chihuahuan deserts. (http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/mojadena.htm)
Picture at left: http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/mojadena.htm
Weather Patterns in North America:
North America is typically a warm place, compared to most other continents. On the Western side, it is usually warm all year round; whilst the eastern side has four seasons; spring, summer, fall and winter. (http://www.coaps.fsu.edu/lib/booklet/)
El Nino:
In February or March the waters off Peru start to get warmer. Despite the fact that Peru is not in North America it still affects it.
As said on: http://www.ucar.edu/communications/factsheets/elnino/, "But every few years, this warming started early (in December), was far stronger, and lasted as long as a year or two. Torrential rains fell on the arid land; as one early observer put it, "the desert becomes a garden." Warm waters flowing south brought water snakes, bananas, and coconuts from equatorial rain forests. However, the same current shut off the deeper, cooler waters that are crucial to sustaining the region's marine life. This is El Niño, "the Christ child," so named because of its frequent late December appearance. Once thought to affect only a narrow strip of water off Peru, it is now recognized as a large-scale oceanic warming that affects most of the tropical Pacific. The meteorological effects related to El Niño and its counterpart, La Niña (a cooling of the eastern tropical Pacific); extend throughout the Pacific Rim to eastern Africa and beyond."
Although El Nino hits Central America, South America, and Africa normally, it causes colder winters, and sometimes even droughts in North America. (http://www.ucar.edu/communications/factsheets/elnino/ ).
http://www.wall-maps.com/Classroom/Continents/3-623-31763-2NorthAmericaPh.jpg
http://mappery.com/maps/North-America-Map.mediumthumb.gif